Abercrombie & Fitch

I was in here once. Years ago. In high school. I resolved never to go back. But just from walking past the store since then, it’s obvious to me that the things I most despised about this place back then have not changed a bit.
Thing the first: The smell. It’s one thing to have a tasteful amount of fragrance in the air. It’s entirely another to smother your customers with your signature cologne. Even before one enters the store, the scent is truly overpowering. If I had allergies, I would probably not be able to breathe in there. Worse still, this practice of customer fumigation teaches teenage boys that they are expected to wear an obnoxious and unhealthy amount of cologne at all times. Go into any middle or high school and you will smell the ill-​effects.
Thing the second: The music. Good God. A retail outlet is expected to provide background music for its customers. It is not supposed to provide background music for customers in other stores. Go to the Hallmark next door, and you will not be able to ignore the incessant booming of their soulless techno music. Walk past the store, and you might be able to make out the artist and the song – provided you are intimately acquainted with soulless techno music. No other store in the mall plays their music even half as loud as Abercrombie and Fitch. How are your customers supposed to talk with you if they can’t hear themselves think?
In brief, given A&F’s target age demographic, the fact that this store continues to exist makes me deeply depressed for our nation’s future.